Envisioning a Cross in the Desert

The Great Cross Alliance, founded by a California family, is hoping that hundreds of thousands of Christians from every branch of the faith will help it raise the billion dollars needed to construct a cross monument 10 times the length of a professional football field that also doubles as "a massive columbarium and mausoleum that will be a physical memorial to Jesus Christ."

The project is set to become the largest religious monument and also one of the largest cemeteries in the world, the group claims. Although the mammoth structure has been tailored to Christians, "any person can be interred in the Great Cross without discrimination," The Great Cross Alliance explains on its website. It also notes that Catholics, mainline Protestants, Mormons, Adventists, and agnostics served as advisers in the development of the project, set to begin construction in 2014.